Miracle Seeker Arc
by When-The-Cicadas-Die
Summary: The Miraculous Box is a wonderful, magical thing that has been in the hands of Hanyuu Furude for many years. She looked after it during life, but when it failed to protect her most loved ones, she left the box inside the Saiguden without a keeper. Years later, with the sudden death and disappearance of Rika Furude's parents, Hanyuu entrusts the Miracle Box with a keeper once more.


_Carefree Beginnings_

"Whee, ahaha~!"

A gleeful giggle rings out from the rooftops above a bustling Okinomiya street. A few people glance up into the skies, hearing the faint noise, but cannot see anything in particular. They mark it down as kids messing around somewhere, and continue on with their day – they have 'better things' to do, in their mind.

In truth, the source of the thrilled squeals come from a green-haired girl that no one would be able to recognise if they laid eyes upon her. "Oof-!" A soft huff escapes her lips as she stumbles to make a clean landing on top of someone's shop roof. She pulls herself to her feet, dusting off her peculiar red knee-length dress, her gloved hands brushing over the various black dots printed onto the skirt. "I don't remember the last time I felt this free… Ahah~ This is so much fun…!"

Despite the strange get-up that appeared on her body a mere five minutes ago, she seems rather preoccupied with her newfound freedom. Now that she's landed and gazing down at the ant-sized citizens of her home-town, a small sense of responsibility washes over her. "Hmm, that's right… I wasn't told to just jump around, was I…?" A troubled frown pulls at her lips, her eyebrows softening as she props herself down onto the roof. She feels a slight pang of guilt as she remembers the news she heard from her mother last night.

"_Shion, come sit down here, please."_

_The younger Sonozaki sister let out a groan as her mother ordered her to sit down, despite the fact that she'd only just stood up after finishing off her dinner. She folded her arms over her chest, lightly puffing her cheeks out in protest. "I'm not in trouble, am I? Look, I don't care what the principal told you, that girl hit me first, not the other way around."_

_Her father raised a brow at that revelation. "You got into another fight?"_

_The girl gulped. She'd just released precious information without realising. She figured the principal would've phoned her parents already, informing them of the fact that she started a fight with one of the girls at her school._

_Her mother let slip an exasperated sigh. "We'll discuss that little detail later," she said. "There was something else, Shion. Please, sit."_

_Shion rubbed at the back of her neck, smiling wryly. She decided she had no other choice but to sit patiently and listen. Joining her parents back at the dining table, she glanced between the two, realising they had bags under their eyes and pale skin. "H-Hey, did something serious happen…? You look like you haven't slept for ages." Her embarrassment of revealing her fight at school soon passed the moment she picked up on the tense atmosphere._

"_Shion, you're aware of the Furude family in Hinamizawa, yes?" The girl's mother spoke first._

"_Of course," she answered, with a small nod. "Onee tells me about Rika-chama all the time. Has something happened to her?"_

"_Last night, after Watanagashi, Rika's __father was found dead… It seems he had heart problems." Her mother spoke quietly, in a strained tone. _

_Shion's eyes widened, and she was stunned into silence. She thought that was all her parents had to say, but from the exhausted look on her father's face growing darker, she quickly understood there was more. She braced herself for the worst. If Rika's father was dead, then what about Rika's mother, she wondered._

"_You'd be correct to assume Rika's mother was also… Well," Shion's father sighed, taking a small pause to compose himself. "She's gone missing. There's an ongoing search as to where she may have went, but it's not looking good."_

_Shion slowly shook her head, still at a loss for words. The Furude family were very close to her own, and they were one of the pillars of the village. It came as a complete shock; Shion felt her stomach turn, and a shiver crawl down her spine. "Rika-chama… I-Is she okay?"_

_Her mother gave a nod. "She was found safe at home. But, of course, she's been quite shaken up by all this..."_

The girl releases a heavy sigh at the memory. She spent the night over at Hinamizawa, meeting up with her older sister and helping the villagers search for Mrs. Furude. By the time her eyes had started drooping from sleepiness, the news that she had been 'found' reached her.

"I'm not sure what else they expect me to do," she mutters in a bitter tone, letting her eyelids slip shut in thought. Now that she has some time to reflect, all alone on this rooftop, she starts wondering what exactly her mission is here. "Rika-chama's mother committed suicide… How selfish, to leave a little girl all by herself."

"Now, now. I don't think you should go that far."

"Huh-?!" A squeak escapes her at the sudden sound of a voice to her left. Her eyes flutter open in surprise, and she instinctively hops up from where she's sitting – although in the process, she nearly slips off the side of the roof.

"H-Hey, careful…!" The newly appeared figure dives forward to come to the girl's aid, wrapping his arm around her waist and steadying her frantic movements.

"Ow…!" In the messy process between falling and being caught, the girl bumps her forehead off the other's. She squeezes her eyes shut in pain, cursing herself under her breath at her clumsiness. "Wow, I am _so _sorry, I-" When she finally opens her eyes again, her words get caught in her throat as she glances at the one standing in front of her. The two are only a few inches apart; naturally, their eyes lock and they're crushed by the awkward atmosphere immediately.

"N-No, I'm sorry, I..." The mysterious boy, covered by black robes and gloves that seem to be tipped with claws, also makes an attempt to apologise for spooking the other. However, the moment they make eye contact, he's unable to say anything more. Standing before him is an incredibly beautiful girl, perhaps the most beautiful he's ever seen, and he has no idea how to handle it.

"Uh… Ahah..." The green-haired Sonozaki girl slowly releases herself from his gentle grip, taking a couple of steps back. "I-I'm okay now. Thanks for… you know… not letting me fall."

"O-Of course…!" The male frantically nods, lowering his arms to his side and averting his glance. It's safe to say these two stuttering fools may have just encountered love at first sight, or at least undeniable infatuation. He takes in her appearance, taking note that she's wearing a similar sort of dress-up outfit that he is. He sees her ladybug-like mask covering her bluebell eyes, the full arm-length red gloves, and black-spotted red boots that run up to her knees. "Woah..."

Shion lightly rubs at the back of her neck, staring right back at the male in a dumbfounded state. She doesn't hear his mumble in awe, of course, but she does notice that there appears to be a pair of black ears sticking out of his messy dark blonde hair – and that they also twitch a bit when he trails his eyes up and down her figure. "You're… well… the same as me, aren't you?" She figures it out after a few moments. There's a cat collar around the boy's neck with a cute little bell, and a belt that trails behind him much like a kitty's tail. No matter how hard she tries to place his appearance with someone she already knows, she can't pin down his identity at all. It's near impossible.

"That's right." When he's not stuttering and tripping over his words like a lovestruck fool, his voice is much more calm and collected, as well as soft and graceful. He can't help but sneak one last peek at the girl opposite him; he simply adores everything about her already, especially her light green twin braids that fall over her shoulders, which are tied at the bottoms with matching yellow bows. Taking her eyes off her at last, he continues. "Your kwami explained everything, right?"

Shion lets out a nervous laugh, before giving a half-shrug as an answer. She thinks back to the strange small creature she was greeted by a short while ago, and how she rushed into the action without really waiting for it to finish talking. "I, ah… can't remember?"

The boy raises a brow at her terrible response. 'This girl is ridiculously cute, but… She really isn't that smart, is she…?' he thinks to himself, with an exaggerated groan in his mind. He'd listened to his new magical buddy intently, honoured that someone like himself was chosen for this duty, and most importantly eager to get out of the house. From a small corner of Hinamizawa, this Houjou boy is ready to take the lead and help his ladybug friend here grow into a confident version of herself. "It's no problem," he waves his hand dismissively.

"All I know is that we have to look for clues regarding the disappearance of Rika Furude's mother," Shion says. Although she'd much rather be hopping rooftops right about now.

"Yes, the woman you believe to be selfish for leaving her daughter all by herself," the blonde retorts. "We don't know the full story. What if she wandered off in a state of panic and got into an accident? Or what if someone went after her?"

Shion huffs quietly. The boy certainly has a point. But she firmly stands by her original beliefs. "It's far too much of a coincidence for an accident to happen so close to her husband's death," she says, folding her arms. "Besides. The police found a suicide note, didn't they?"

He simply shrugs. "If you listened to your kwami, you'd know that it's our job to look for alternatives," he replies. "Considering I found you lurking around Okinomiya here, I think I'm right in assuming you have no idea about the Hinamizawa dam project and the Furude family involvement in it. Or… Lack thereof."

"Hey, I'm not some outsider!" Shion scoffs, offended by that remark of his. "I know enough, alright? And I don't think it's related to the dam project at all. Mr. Furude remained neutral, didn't he? He was really mature about the whole thing. There'd be no reason for anyone to go after him, if that's what you're thinking."

The boy narrows his eyes at her. The way she talks about Hinamizawa makes him believe that he knows this girl; a simple Okinomiya city girl wouldn't have this much knowledge about the inner workings of his village. "Like I said… We have to look for alternatives. I'm just following my kwami's orders."

"Alright, kitty-cat. I get it." Shion decides to give in for now. After all, she's been chosen for a reason. She'll have to put her personal feelings aside and help contribute to the search – even though she's still unsure why it's her that has to do all this, rather than her smarter older sister. "What's your name, anyway? Do I know you?"

"Eh-?" The Houjou boy sort of chokes, caught off guard by her question of identity. "H-Hey, that's another thing- If you listened to your kwami, you'd know that we can't tell each other who we really are. It's for our own safety, you see?"

"Huhhh..." She's puzzled by this rule. "You're telling me this is dangerous work?"

"There's always the possibility. They wouldn't give us these masks and costumes if we could just join in on the search normally," he answers. He'd love to tell this girl his real name, of course. But the magical creature he met told him it's best that he doesn't give out that sort of information. He's plain old Satoshi Houjou, anyway. If this girl recognises the name, she'd be disappointed for sure that someone as simple as him is this cool superhero. "So, I'll tell you my name. My super name." He gives her a wink, flashing a grin.

"Super name?" Shion repeats, blinking a couple of times before bursting out into laughter. "We're superheroes, are we?"

"Uh-huh, uh-huh!" He nods in a serious manner, which causes her to laugh some more. Satoshi is quick to understand that with this mask on, he can be anyone he likes. At school, everyone knows him as a sweet, shy yet caring older brother and a great friend. But for this wonderful mysterious girl, he can be a charming, carefree and mischievous kind of guy. He wants to try out a new type of personality approach, rather than the same old boring one he shows off at school. Rather, he wants to be a whole new person, with no risk of consequence. "I'm Chat Noir. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Oh!~" Shion's cheeks flush a light pink when the daring kitty extends his paw to take hold of her hand and place a soft kiss on top of it. "Well, it sure is nice to meet you too, Chat Noir. I'm… Hmmm…" She glances down to her dress for a second, before looking back up. "Ladybug. Mhm, that's me."

"How about we go looking for clues, Ladybug?" Satoshi suggests with a smile, once he's let go of his partner's hand. He pulls a silver stick from his belt, and in one swift motion begins to twirl it around whilst extending its length at the same time. He's gotten the hang of this stick fairly easily, since he had to use it to hop around and find the girl.

"Wait, wait- How 'bout we get used to our powers and freedom first?" She sends him a smirk, grabbing the yo-yo from the red ribbon belt around her waist. She throws it up and down a couple of times, showing him that she's got a decent grip on her own plaything here.

"Hmm," Satoshi hums, thinking back to his kwami's strict orders on starting the search straight away. But that sparkle of mischief in her bright blue eyes is far too irresistible. The chance at freedom is nothing short of enticing; as long as they don't goof off for _too _long… "Alright. Fine. Half an hour?"

"That's the spirit!" Shion clasps her hands together, and before Satoshi can even register it, she's thrown her yo-yo off into the distance and is flying freely along with it while squealing in joy.

"Hey hey, wait for meee!" The boy is left in the dust for a good couple of seconds, until he finally leaps off the side of the roof and starts to swirl his stick above him to hurry after her.

…

The soft sound of sobbing weakly echoes across the lonely shrine. A tiny little girl, dressed in nothing but a barely warm pink nightgown, is sitting on the hard wooden floor with her knees drawn up to her chest. She presses her forehead harder against her skin, unable to stop the tears flowing from her eyes. She screws her eyes shut tighter, breathing becoming increasingly difficult as she continues to lose control.

It's pitch black in the Saiguden. Only a fraction of the moon's soft silver light spills through the cracks of the boarded-up windows. The girl lost track of time a good few hours ago, so when she eventually picks her heavy head up, she's a little confused at the change of light. The moonlight blasts onto the statue of Oyashiro-sama, so when she looks up a bit more, her eyes meet with it.

"Please don't cry, Rika..." A gentle, reassuring whisper comes from the right side of the girl. It's the voice of someone Rika knows all too well, but the words do near enough nothing to make her feel better. "Hauuu..." Upon being ignored, a shaky mumble follows. The ghostly figure of someone who might as well be Rika's older sister appears, and while she can't physically wrap her arms around the girl, she does so anyway.

Rika sniffles, wiping at her eyes to attempt to stop the tears. She senses that ghostly presence, and even though she can't feel the hug, the sweet gesture warms her slightly. This is the only one she has left in her life, after all. "Mmh… Hanyuu..." A strained mutter finally passes Rika's lips. The intense feeling of loneliness twisting her stomach is becoming unbearable. "This box… It… it doesn't make a difference, does it…?" She rests her glance upon a black box that lies near Oyashiro-sama's statue. The various red patterns trailing around the box shine in the moonlight.

"I promise, they will make a difference," Hanyuu softly answers. She takes a few steps toward the towering statue, and brushes her fingers over the top of the box. She frowns, knowing she'll never be able to feel the magic from it again. "They couldn't help me in my time of need, but… I promise, this box and its amazing jewellery will prevent further deaths after the other night."

"My parents… can't come back though, can they…?" Rika reluctantly asks. She already knows the answer, but the girl is still very young and naive. She's currently in the stage of blaming herself for the loss of her parents. "You gave the box to me… two years ago, wasn't it…?" Her weak voice lightly echoes.

Hanyuu remains silent, a hardened expression on her face. She understands Rika is grief stricken at the moment, and she had anticipated that Rika may have started to blame herself for the unfortunate loss of her parents. No matter what she says, she won't be able to convince the young girl otherwise, so she stands there and listens.

"If I… if I had given out the jewellery back then…" Her words trail off. She can't bring herself to finish that sentence.

"It was wise of you to give them out today, at the very least," Hanyuu speaks up. She refuses to blame such an innocent little girl for this loss. She has her suspicions, ones she won't voice to Rika unless absolutely certain. With two of the magical jewels missing, she fears there's more to her parents' death and disappearance that meets the eye.

"The Ladybug and Cat jewels… They can make a wish, right…?" Rika still remembers the small details Hanyuu had told her back then. The only detail that's important to her right now is the one regarding the wish. She doesn't understand the complexities of consequences, however.

Hanyuu can only nod. "They can. But it is not a good idea to use that wish." She settles with telling Rika one more time. "If you wished for your parents to come back, you may disappear in the process."

Rika lowers her eyes, not quite getting it. "It's not certain, though… I could still be safe, and so could my parents..." She seems to believe that her disappearance isn't set in stone, so it's a valid option in her mind to wish for her parents back.

"I'm sorry, Rika." That's all Hanyuu can muster up. "Trust me. We will retrieve the lost jewellery, with the help of Shion Sonozaki and Satoshi Houjou. Those two are connected by the red string of fate… Even though they don't know that yet. They'll be powerful enough to find them, and to help any other people in need from today onward."

Rika falls silent in the end. She briefly understands what her God friend means, but the other half of those words don't make much sense to her. After all, being able to see and talk to a spirit is one thing. But she finds it difficult to truly believe in the different kind of magic contained inside the box of the Miraculous. Despite this, she has faith in at least Satoshi, as he's the kind older brother of her best friend Satoko. He must be a good fit if Hanyuu has approved him. She pulls herself up from the cold wooden floor, taking a breath in. "Okay… I-I'll try to stay strong..."

"I really hope Satoshi and Shion can do this," Hanyuu quietly sighs to herself.

…

"Hah! I win!" Shion proudly puffs her chest out, hands on her hips as she lands at their made up 'finishing line' somewhere in the tall grass back in Hinamizawa. The two self-proclaimed 'superheroes' have been messing around for most of the morning, and now it's slowly approaching lunch time, even though they agreed on just half an hour of adjusting.

Satoshi tumbles down from somewhere above a split second later than her, but just like the cat he now is, he plays it cool even though he fell right onto his butt. He sends a classy grin over to Ladybug, pretending that he's not in immense pain from such a horrible landing. "I admire your fast learning ability. That's the tenth race you've beaten me in. Excellent work."

"Well, those ten races are _all _the races we've done so far, so you better pick it up in the next one," Shion slyly snickers, poking fun at his slowness.

Satoshi lets out a yawn at the mention of yet another race, without fully intending to. "Hmm. I think we've done enough racing for now. I think I'm due for a cat nap," he nonchalantly announces.

"Aww," the green-haired girl kneels beside him, reaching a hand out to tickle under his chin. "Does the kitty want scratches to help him fall asleep?"

A gentle warmth spreads across the boy's cheeks upon feeling the surprisingly relaxing sensation. He lets his eyes slip shut for a moment, an uncontrollable purr floating from his lips in bliss. Ladybug's little snorts of laughter is like music to his ears, and for a moment, he figures he just might fall asleep if this keeps up. "I think it'll be better if I find somewhere soft to curl up. Perhaps my bed at home," he says, with a chuckle.

Shion tilts her head to the side a bit, finding herself getting lost in those hypnotising green eyes of his. She shifts her hand up from under his chin and rests it on his cheek. "Alright, kitty. I'll let you get your rest. We'll pick this back up later, okay? It's been fun, but I know we gotta get serious now."

Satoshi gives a nod, before moving his hand to take hold of hers. He gently shifts her hand from his cheek and holds it out in front of him, placing a goodbye kiss onto the top of her palm. "It's been a lot of fun, indeed." He takes in a breath, jumping up from the ground a moment later. Saying his goodbyes, he grabs his stick from his belt one more time and takes his leave.

Shion waves him off, watching him pounce around until he's finally out of sight. "Wow..." She whispers in awe, her heart pounding in her chest. She plops down fully onto the ground, before uttering the words of de-transformation. Once she does so, her pretty ladybug dress fades in a flash of pink light and is replaced by her everyday school clothes. She's also greeted by the creature she met earlier in the day, who appears to be exhausted.

"Sh-Shion..." Her cute, high-pitched voice huffs out, floating down and resting in the girl's palms.

"Ah, Tikki…! I'm so sorry, I didn't listen to any of your orders at all…!" Shion gasps in realisation. It's only just hit her that she's been a terrible Ladybug on her first day. "A-Are you okay?" An intense look of concern crosses her features at the kwami's heavy breathing.

"Mmh… Hungry..." That's the only words the poor little creature can manage to get out.

"Oh!" The Sonozaki girl's eyes widen, and it's though a lightbulb has flickered to life above her head. "I know exactly where I can take you. C'mon, it's not that far from here, so hang in there, okay?" Carefully picking herself up, balancing her legs the best she can with her palms full, the girl begins to make her way out of the tall grass. Dashing down the dirt path as fast as she can, she takes her new little friend to the perfect place.

…


End file.
